As many speculated, Justin Timberlake announced a new album entitled “Man of the Woods” and drooped a new single last Friday. While using social media to let his fans know of his return, the Internet exploded with reactions to JT's album announcement. This will be his first since 2013's The 20/20 Experience. Could this mean a new tour? Has JT gone country? And, most importantly, will this impact the release of Trolls 2? Of course, there is only so much information out there, so here is everything he has released about the album so far. Well the album is due Feb. 2 — two days before his halftime performance on the Super Bowl on Feb. 4.
“This album is really inspired by my son, my wife, my family, but more so than any album I’ve ever written, where I’m from — it’s personal,” he says in the video, which is filled with shots of Timberlake in outdoors settings. In other shots he is seen working with Pharrell Williams, who says “It feels so earthy, it’s just where you are in your life right now,” before adding emphatically, “That is a smash,” presumably about a song. Snippets of two or three new songs play in the background during the video.
While the wintery scenes contrast with Timberlake’s upbringing in Memphis, Tennessee, he has been saying for some months that the album, on which he also worked with longtime collaborators Max Martin and Shellback (with whom he collaborated on his last single, the hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from the movie “Trolls”) and Timbaland, reflected his roots, calling it “Southern American music.”
In addition to his longtime collaborator Timbaland, Timberlake brought back The Neptunes to work on his fifth studio album. This marks the first time he has collaborated with the duo (Williams and Chad Hugo) since his debut solo album Justified in 2002.
As for JT's first single "Filthy," he makes it very clear that it should be played "very loud. The "Filthy" video features Timberlake in a Steve Jobs-inspired look, while presenting a collection of robots. Of course, there are also some signature Timberlake dance moves.
Following the release of "Filthy," Justin will unveil three more tracks before Man Of The Woods is out, each with their own separately directed videos, starting Jan. 18.
As said earlier, JT cites his family and his personal journey to Memphis as his inspiration, which makes this album his most ambitious, both sonically and lyrically, according to an official press release. That, combined with his all-star collaborations, could mean this is JT’s best album yet.
